Bay Area eclipse chasers following sun for more than 2 decades

Total eclipses actually happen about every 18-months, but they're only visible in certain parts of the world at certain times. So people who want to see more than one usually have to do some serious travel. (KGO-TV)

KGO

Friday, August 18, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) --

For most people who see the total solar eclipse on Monday, it will likely be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Total eclipses actually happen about every 18 months, but they're only visible in certain parts of the world at certain times.

So people who want to see more than one usually have to do some serious travel. They're known as "eclipse chasers" and they include a San Francisco couple, following the sun for more than two decades.

Dr. Donald Abrams says his eclipse-chasing days began on his first date with Clint Werner in 1994. "You know, most people on a first date say, 'You want to go down to the corner and have a beer or something?' But he said let's go to Chile and see a total eclipse of the sun, so I said OK. I called his bluff."

But it was no bluff. Abrams and Werner went to Chile and were hooked. They've now seen 15 total solar eclipses together all over the world and have a house full of memorabilia and t-shirts to prove it. They even named their dog after the August 21 eclipse, and he will be with them as they watch it from Oregon.